As cannabis legalization gains momentum, an emerging industry has been created that has a need for accurate, reliable and innovative analytical testing. In my role as Director of Analytical Chemistry at Next Frontier Biosciences, I chose high-resolution liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) to meet these needs. In this article, I will discuss applications in routine testing (potency and contaminants) as well as those more specialized (terpenes, lipids, etc.).

Tandem quadrupole/time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometry is shown to be a valuable tool in routine and custom applications that will contribute to the next generation of cannabis products. LC/MS capability in the cannabis laboratory goes well beyond contaminate testing currently used in most cannabis third-party testing labs.